Door-opener.



1", coNNBR.

nooBoPENBR. APPLICATION' FILED 00T. 23, 1912.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

FRANK CONNER, 0F TOPEKA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD T0 WILLIAM DAVIS AND ONETTHIBD TO CHARLES W. KELLY, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

DOOR-OPENER.

Lorasoo.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 16, 1913.

To all lwlwm, t may concern Be it known that I, FRANK CONNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain-new and useful Improvements in Do0r-Opener`s, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for oper-h ating sliding doors, especially railway car doors. It has vspecial reference to doors made in pairs and mounted, by means of' internally threaded brackets, upon an upper and a lower rod, the rods having rightand left-hand threaded portions to engage in the respective brackets, with means for operating the rods in unison-so as to move the doors in opposite directions, whereby the doors may be forced together or apart. Such an arrangement I have shown, broadly speaking,in Patent No. 909,552, granted to me January 12, 1909.

The object of my present invention is to improve upon devices of this kind in several particulars: To mount the rods so as to prevent their becoming bent in ease of the sag* ging of the car sills: to provide a simple and etlicient locking device which positively prevents the turning of the rods to open the doors without operating the crank; to provide a crank-handle of special construction whieh,`when desired, may be lett in the casing and not interfere with the clearance of the car; to provide for weather-proong the gear-box which contains the locking device and the principal operating gears; and to provide the parts, improvements, and combinations hereinafter set forth. and claimed. v- In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification. and in the description of the drawings, I have shown my invention in its preferred form and what I deem to be the best mode of applying the principles thereof; but it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, I contemplate changes in form, proportions, and materials, the transposition of parts, and the substitution of equivalent members,'without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention, the gear box cover plate being removed along the line indicated-by the line 1 in Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View, on the line 2 in F ig. 1. showing the manner of mounting the middle bearing for the upper.

rod. Fig. 3 is an enlarged verticall sectional elevation of the gear-boxand its contents, approximately on a plane indicated by the line 3 in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is an outside View of the same, part ofthe front 'of the box be ing broken away. Fig. 5 is a section of Ithe locking plate showing especially the lug orV latch which engages in the teeth of the gears to lock them. Fig. 6 is a face view of the main driving gear, showing especially the special form of socket made to receive a special form of crank-head. Fig. 7 is a view of the special crank-head.

Similar reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

12, 12 are the two doors, each provided with brackets 13, 13 extending from the top and bottom.-.`

15 and 16 are the top and bottom rods, respectively, one-half of each rod having a right-hand thread, and the other half of each rod having a left-hand thread, as shown at 22 and 2l, respectively. These rods are mounted in the bearings 17, A17 at their letthandends and in the bearings 19 and 31 at their right-hand ends, these four bearings being rigidly secured to the frame of the car. At their middle points, the rods are mounted in the bearings 18, 18, respectively. The upper bearing 18 is secured to a plate or bar 23 which extends the full length of the upper rod and just back of it, and is secured tothe frame of the car only at the ends, and the middle bearing for the upper rod is secured to this plate. The purpose of this arrangement of the plate is to sustain the rod at the middle even though the car or sill 14 may sag at the doory opening.

24 is a slot in the plate or bar and 25 is a bolt extending into the sill and through the slot with its head on the outside of the plate or bar, its purpose being to prevent the plate or bar from being bent or springing outwardly and yet permitting movement of the sill upwardly or downwardly without similarly bending the bar or rod. The lower middle bearing 18 is secured to a plate 26, which is held by means of slots 24, 24, and bolts 25, 25 in a similar manner to prevent the rod from springing or being bent outwardly, notwithstanding the sagging of the sill. By means of the miter gears 27, the upper rod is operatively connected with the vertical rod 28, which carries the bevel gear the samel as set forth in my said previous patent: by turning the crank to the left, the doors are moved apart, and by turning the crank to the right, the doors are moved together.

The outer face of the driving gear isformed with an annular groove 35 around the centrally disposed pin 32, and with a radial recess 36; and the crank-head is formed to it into that groove, having a hole 37 for the pin and a lug 38 to lit into the recess.

40 is the gear-box inclosing the driving gear and other parts immediatelyv associated therewith.

41 is a cleat for holding in place the vertically movable locking plate 42, which is normally pressed downwardl and in locking position by means of a sprmg 43, though, obviously, the plate may be made of sufficient Weight to fall by gravity without the aid of a spring. This locking plate is formed with a slot in such position as to embrace the neck of the crank just back of its head, the slot being too small to permit the passage of the head therethrough; but thelower end of the slot is enlarged, as shown at 45 so as to permit the passage of the head therethrough when the locking-plate is raised to bring the enlarged portion into concentric relation with the head. The front of the gear-box has an opening 46 concentric with the-driving gear and large enough to permit the passage of the crank-head. Now, the locking plate is capable of being shifted to three positions. The first shown in Fig. 4, is such that the socket in the driving gear is substantially covered by the locking plate, at least sufiiciently to prevent the insertion of the cralilehead. In the second, shown in Fig. 3, the plate is slightly raised, so as to embrace the neck of the crank just back of the head, as hereinbefore described. The third position is when the plate is still further raised in order to bring the enlarged opening 45 to register with the center of the driving gear, in order to insert or withdraw the crank head. The lower end of the locking plate has a tongue 49'which projects through the gear-box adjacent to t-he lip 50, which has a hole 51.A The tongue 49 has two holes 51 and 51, the first of which registers with the hole in the lip when the locking-plate is in its first-named position, and the second of which registers with the hole in the lip vwhen the locking-plate is in its second-named position. To prevent positively the operation of the rods to open the doors Without the use of the crank, I now further provide the locking-plate with a latch or lug 47,-which, when the locking-v plate is in -its first-named position,- enters between the teeth of the main driving gear and the intermeshing gear 29, so as to prevent positively the turning of the rods. rfhis posit-ion is shown by the dotted outline 47 in Fig. 3. lVhen the locking-plate is shifted the seal may be secured through the holes 51 and 51; and the shackle also passed around the arm of the crank. The seal may be similarly applied if the crank be permanently secured to the driving mechanism. lVhere the crank is to be left in connection with the driving mechanism, the handle 52 may be pivoted to the arm, so as to be turned down, when not in use, so as not to project unduly from the side of the car or interfere with the necessary clearance.

In order to prevent the water from liow- I ing into the gear-box where in cold weather it is apt to freeze and interfere with the working of the mechanism VI prefer to use a Weather-proof device as follows: The toV 60 of the box is made to slant upwardly fliom all sides to the rod 28; it being understood that back of this rod is a slot 61 which is necessary in order to permit the box to be applied and withdrawn without moving the gearing. 62 is asleeve encircling the rod 28, covering the slot, fitting down over the top, and being'secured to the top by any suitable means. 63 is a collar secured to the shaft above the sleeve by means of a setscrew 64, its lower edge overhanging the upper end of the sleeve so as to divert the Water from the shaft and sleeve, making the connection through the gear-box practically Water-proof.

What I claim is 1. lThe combination of a frame, a pair of rods in unison, a bar extending the full plate. v

length of the upper rod and secured at its ends to the frame back of said upper rod, a bearing for the said upper rod at its middle secured to said bar, a bolt secured to the frame adjacent to said middle bearing, and avertical slot in said bar through which the bolt extends with its head on the outside of the bar. 4

2. In a device of the kind described, the combination of a rod having rightand left-hand threaded portions, a frame, bearings at the two ends of the rod and rigidly secured to the frame, a plate having a lvertical slot therein, a bearing for the middle of the rod secured to said plate, and a bolt secured to the frame and passing throiwh the slot with its head on the outside ot' tie l3. In a device of the kind described, the combination with rotatable door-operating rods and toothed gearing for operating said rods; of a casing inclosing said gearing, a crank with an enlarged head removably attachable to, and for operating, said gearing,

a locking plate movably mounted in said casing and a apted to three positions and hav- `ing a hole through which said crank-head is attachable to said gearing, and also having a. lug, said crank-head being insertible through said hole when the plate is in one position and not insertible therethrough when the locking plate is in either of its other positions, said plate being adapted'in its second position to embracel the neck of the crank just back of the crank-head and to lock said crank in its attached position, and said plate being adapted in its third position to bring said lug into engagement with the toothed gearing, said lug being free therefrom when the plate is in the first and second positions.

In testimony whereof I have aiflxed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK CONNER.

Witnesses:

CHAS. W. KELLY, L. GAUDY. 

